I almost couldn’t believe it myself. After all, I made lemon cornmeal pancakes with roasted blackberries last week. And I still haven’t forgotten about my cinnamon raisin brioche French toast from a month ago. That was a highlight.

But this baked oatmeal was a cut above the rest. It combined two of my favorite fruits, blackberries and bananas, and one of my recent obsessions, coconut. I used to hate the taste and texture of coconut, but I’ve really come around to it lately. It adds some crunch and variety to a more basic dish, and the smell of it when it’s toasting in the oven is unreal.

I subbed in almond milk for coconut milk because I forgot to get a can at the grocery store. I’m happy that I did, though, because the coconut flavor was more subtle that way.

Also, the original recipe calls for slicing up two bananas to line the bottom of the pan, but I found that using one banana was enough. Then, you can slice up the second one and use it for serving.

The best part about this dish (besides eating it) is the smell when it comes out of the oven. Imagining opening a present and smelling a pancake, a muffin and baking bread all at once. It sounds like a dream, but that’s pretty much what happens here.

I found that drizzling the top with some maple syrup only adds to the effect.